It's not important, but you would not be sued for slander, which relates to oral defamation, but for libel, which relates to written defamation.
My answer is based on your public message. It might change depending on what was in your private message.
Not using names may not help you, if the people are nevertheless identifiable to a reasonable reader. For example, "a certain highly paid Yankee third baseman currently on the disabled list cheated on his wife." However, even if the people are identifiable, your statements may well not be defamatory. Only statements of fact can be defamatory, not opinions, so your opinion that "it's sick" is not defamatory. Your statement that an adult is dating a teenager, however, is a statement of fact. Only false statements can be defamatory, however, so if it is true that this adult is dating a teenager, your statement cannot be defamatory. If your statement is false, it may be considered defamatory, although some may not consider it defamatory. It seems to me a close question whether falsely stating that an adult is dating a teenager damages the reputation of either of the parties. It might depend on the relative ages of the parties. Accusing an 18 year old of dating a 17 year old is probably not defamatory; accusing a 30 year old of dating a 13 year old probably is.
Even if your statement is defamatory, the defendant may still not win the lawsuit, since he may not be able to show any actual damages arising from your statement, either because his reputation was already so bad that you did no damage (for example, if you falsely claim that Ted Bundy killed 15 people, when he actually only killed 14, you have not damaged his reputation) or because you did not actually cost him any money (for example, did he lose a job, or some business opportunity, or otherwise lose some money because you damaged his reputation?) There are certain types of statements which are considered defamatory "per se", meaning that a person has a claim for defamation even if he can't prove any actual damages; his recovery would be whatever punitive damages the judge or jury awards. In my opinion, this statement is not per se defamatory, but many might disagree with me; again, it might depend on the ages of the parties. Assuming the statement is not per se defamatory, your adversary will need to prove actual damages to win, which will be difficult to do.
I hope this gives you a better insight as to your chances of winning any lawsuit. Remember, in most situations, even if you win you will be responsible for paying your own legal fees and court costs, as will he. This may mean that the guy will go through with his threat to sue you; the fact that he is calling his claim slander rather than libel may indicate that he has not consulted a lawyer. As for what you can do about what you term harassment, probably not much until and unless the guy breaks the law. ...
Read More
